Re-reading The Prisoner of Azkaban, I noticed how precisely Azkaban resembled the "prison" of depression I live in every day, and how the Dementors so closely resemble the "demons" I wrestle with when my worst days come.
"They don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most go mad within weeks." - Remus Lupin on Azkaban
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
—Description of Dementors
This is exactly how depression feels, and I knew when I read PoA that Rowling had to know it personally. Sirius Black is the only person to have escaped Azkaban with his wits, because he turned himself into a dog when the dementors were around. This is meaningful to me too, considering the dog is my favorite animal, and in the world of animals, the most loyal to man and the most likely to love unconditionally. The fact that the dementors left Sirius alone while he was in this form is touching. Perhaps these things are why PoA is my favorite book in the Harry Potter series.
I am in a major HP obsession phase right now, and someone recently had the gall to jokingly quip, "You're obsessed...15 years after the fact."
My response?
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